Friday, January 28, 2011

Karlapat

Title - Karlapat
Size - 22 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper
This painting is done from a photograph taken by Satyesh and is inspired from this post by him. Karlapat is a wildlife sanctuary in Kalahandi district of Orissa or Odisha (new official spelling). I really enjoyed this post and wanted to paint something that would capture the feel of dense forests of Karlapat resonating with the music of streams. To be honest I thought I was not successful in doing that, but Satyesh said he liked it. Since he is the person who had been there and taken the picture I thought I'll share it.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Cosy..

Title - Cosy
Size - 22 x 15 inch
Medium - Watercolor on Paper

I was trying this little different subject this time. It took me almost double the time I usually take for a painting. There were so many straight lines, play of perspective and so much of negative painting that had to be done that by the end of it I almost lost interest in this one. Hope you like it.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

A little mist and a little sun

Title - A little mist and a little sun
Size - 15 x 20 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

This one was not originally planned to be the way it is right now.

I was using a handmade paper for this and had wet it thoroughly for doing an initial wash in wet in wet. But somehow it had soaked up a lot of water and was not drying up at all. So I left it to dry overnight. Next morning it was still very damp and I realized it was going to remain damp for a long time. Since the dampness was perfect for wet in wet I started doing wet in wet and continued for about half an hour. It was good fun as the paper was maintaining its wetness. Then I left it to dry. By evening it had dried up and colors has toned down a bit and it was looking like a mist scene. Then I added some pale shadows here and there to have a little feeling of soft light. And there I had my fog scene. :)

Its not a great painting. But why I am sharing this is because some times in watercolors things do not go as planned. But that also gives you an opportunity to stumble upon something new. Sometimes its good to just accept what has happened, work with it and learn from it.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Dusk on Mandovi - II

Title - Dusk on Mandovi - II
Size - 15 x 19 inch
Medium - Watercolor on paper

My last painting was full of colors. This painting however is an experimentation with grays. I kept some colors in the foreground to have some drama and just let the eye move around. But I guess I went a little overboard it with it. I am not sure.....

By the way it was done on a pale yellow tinted sheet. Any guesses why???


Saturday, January 8, 2011

Nestled

Title - Nestled
Medium - Watercolor on paper
Size - 14.5 x 20.5 inch

I dont remember where but I had read something like this somewhere told by some great person.
"Each day I dont practice I take a step back".

That is exactly how I feel. I picked up my brushes after a gap of 15 odd days and I was feeling that I just dont know how to paint. My hands were freezing. Strokes were just not confident enough and I was doing all the mistakes all over again.

That means I need to restart all over again. Practice, work hard and just be patient. I think any sort of art form has this magical quality to teach you to be patient.

Anyway here is the painting that I made. While on Goan roads I came across this beautiful house nestled among thick foliage. And immediately I saw a painting. And here is that.